Ore-separator.



J. GOTTLANDER.

ORE SBPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.20,1902.

w v N WITNESSES: t i NVENTOR.

7 ATTORNEY;

No. 834,613. PATENTED OCT. 30, 1906.

' J. GOTTLANDER. ORE SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.20.1902.

a SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTORNEY; 1

INVENTOR.

PA'IENTED OCT. 30, 1906.

J. GOTTLANDER.

ORE SEPARATOR. APPLICATION FILED nov. 20. 1902.

6 SHBiTS-SHEET 3.

IN VEN T 01?.

ATTORNEYS No. 834,613. PATENTED 00130, 1906.

" J. GOTTLANDER.

ORE SEPARATOR.

APPLIOATIOH FILED NOV. 20. 1902.

' 6 SHEETSSHEET 5.

J L I WITNESSES; INVENTOR. sh %%M I Br v fwg MW I ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFI E.

Specification of Letters Patent. I

Patented out. so, 1906..

Applicgtionfiled November 20,1902. Serial No. 132,086.

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN GOTTLANDER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Denver, in the county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ore-Se arators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descri tion of the invention, such as will enable ot ers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in machinery for collecting and extracting gold from ores, and has especial relation'to what is known as placer-mining, in which a large quantit of fine flour-gold is met with,

'WhlCh genera 1y has ,a tendency to float upon the surface of the water during the usual methods and operations ursued for separat- Fand earth.

he object is to producea machine which shall be more or less automatic inits action throughout and which shall be capable of;

prope ling itself from placev to place and is able to do its own excavating of the material to be worked, sifting and washin the mate'- rial, as well as amal amating hot 1 the flourgold and coarse gol which may be contained 1n such material.

It consists ina separator provided with an excavator adapted to be raised andlowered, a sliding support carrying the said excavator for drawing it toward the machine when ready to operate, and means for forcin the same outwardly to carry the excavator ack against the material to be raised, and thereby insuring the thorough accomplishment of its work.

It also consists in a separator provided with means for excavatlngplacer material and a revolving screen for receiving the same,

' the said scre'en revolving partially in water,

so that the gold-containing material will be sifted beneath the surface of the Water, whereby a small quantity of water can be used effectually for accomplishing'the separating process.

The invention also consists in a separator provided with an amalgamating means, consisting in a trough, a series of paddle-wheels mounted therein, and a series of rifiles arranged to partially fit around the paddlewheels, the blades of the paddle-wheels and v the rifiies being coated with an amalgamat- 'ing material, so that the fine as well as the erably consists 0 an excavating-bucket 6, no

coarse gold passing throu h said amalgainvention. j Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same. Fi 3 is a plan view of the base frame oft e machine, the upper parts thereof being removed for a clearer disclosure of the slidmg frame which carries the excavator; Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section through the-machine. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal central section through the revolving screen used in this machine. Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the amalgamator. Fi 7 is a central longitudinal section throng the same.

I In mining for mining, there is o ten a considerable quantit of very fine our-gold, which as a tendency to float upon the top of water used in separating the gold from gravel, rock, earth, or other material with which itmay be found mixed in such minin By the 'present invention I am enabled to such gold and to screen itbeneath the water,

so as to quickly separate it without using-a large quantity "of water and also to insure the catching of all of the flour-gold as it passes through the amalgamator.

The machine is formed with a suitable base, as 1, which is preferably su ported upon wheels, as 2 and 3. The wheeIs 3 are preferably in the form of drive, or traction wheels, by which the vehicle may be propelled from place toplace, and for this purpose such wheels are rovided with the usual driving-gears, as, 4, w ich may be connected by any suitable train of gearing witha suitable steam, gas, or other'engine or electric motor, as may be desired. .Such engine or motive power has not been illustrated, as it forms no special feature of the invention. The differold, especially in placer old, commonly called excavate material carrying ent mechanisms carried by the-machine are driven by a main driv in '-shaft 5, mounted upon the frame 1, prefera ly at a point near the tractiomwheels, so that it can readily receive its power from the engine or motor above referred to. V

At the forward end of the machine is an excavating or dig 'ng apparatus, wh ch pref Tie carried by suitable rollers, as 7. The rollers of the bucket are guided in their movement by. runways 8 8, preferably formed of channel-irons, which have their fiangesfacing each other and are separated a suitable distance to receive the framing, which carries the excavating-bucket, between them. The runways 8 extend forwardly in a horizontal plane a short distance in front of the machine, as at 9, and are then curved upwardly and-backwardly toward the machine at 10, while at the highest point they are curved from the front edge of the machine, as shown at 11. The excavating-bucket- 6 when in its lowered position can thus be caused to travel forwardly along the ground until it is filled with ore-containing material, after which it will be raised and caused to travel upwardly over the upper edge of the machine and will be turned upside down, as shown in Fig. 1, so as to dump its contents into a trough 12, which collects the material thus deposited in the 'machine and delivers it to a rotating screen 13. The runways 8 are so mounted that the excavating-bucket can be moved laterall with respect to the machine as well as longitudinally thereof, the runways themselves being moved in this manner to effect such operation of the bucket. To move the runways longitudinally of the machine, they are mounted upon a sliding frame 14, which is preferably formed of T or other irons arranged within the base-beams of the frame 1 on each side thereof and sliding upon antifriction-rollers and 16, carried by the said frame. The rear ends of these irons are formed with a series of rack-teeth, as 17, for a short distance, which will engage pinions 18, secured upon the ends of a cross-shaft 19. This shaft is arranged counter to the main shaft 5 and is ca able of receiving motion therefrom through a suitable train of gearing. This gearing preferably consists of an intermediate shaft 20, arranged at right angles to the shaft 19 and connected, by means of beveled cars 21 and 22, with the said main shaft 5. %he shaft also carries a beveled gear 23, which is arranged to actuate either a sliding ear 24 or a similar sliding gear 25, carried y the shaft 19. These sliding gears are splined to the shaft 19, so as to turn the same, and are moved by means of a yoke 26, which engages annular flanges upon said gears and is operated by a sultable lever, as 27, so that one or the other of the gears may be brought into contact with the actuatinggear 23 of the shaft 20. By this mechanism the shaft 19 can be quickly rotated in one direction or the other for moving the sliding frame 14 in and out. This is a very desirable feature of the machine, since after the excavating-bucket has been raised it could not well be lowered again without retracting the frame, because of the falling of material behind the bucket in the excavation. The

ment with a clutch movement of the frame also facilitates the forcing of the bucket against the material which is to be excavated after the bucket has been lowered again. When the bucket has been brought to its lowest position, the shaft 19 is so rotated that the frame 14 is forced outwardly, carrying with it the runways S and the bucket 6. The bucket is further moved forward along the runways by means of a cable28, which is attached to the bucket and which runs over guide-pulleys 29 near the lower part of the runways 8 and a pulley 30 near the top of said runways. The cable extends backwardly to a winding-drum 31,

secured to a shaft 32, mounted on the frame of the machine above the main driving-shaft 5.

This shaft 32 is connected with the drivingshaft by means of a sprocket-chain 33, which leads to the sprocket-wheels upon the respective shafts 5 and 32. A lever 34 is employed for moving the drum into and out of engageupon the said shaft 32, softhat the movement of the bucket can be controlled completely.

In order to increase the range of the excavator, the runways 8 are so mounted that they may be moved from side to side upon the machine. For this purpose an upper rod or track 36 is employed, which is engaged by one or more grooved pulleys 37, secured to the under side of the runways 3 at the upper end thereof. The lower ends of the runways are provided with vertical slots 33. which ongage a guiding-rod 39. The rod 39 is extended beyond the wheels of the machine at each side and is folded back so as to be connected with the ends of the sliding frame H. The top rod or track 36, upon which the weight of the runways rests, also extends beyond the wheels of the machine, so that the excavator can get at material in front of the machine for a space greater than its width. The excavating mechanism is moved from side to side upon the frame of the machine by means of cables 40 and 41, which extend from the excavator frame over pulleys 42 and 43 at the side of the machine and thence downwardly around pulleys 44 to drums 45 and 46, carried by the shaft 3'2. These drums are loose upon the said shaft, but may be caused to turn therewith by moving them into and out of engagement with clutches 47 and 48 by means of hand-levers 49 and 50.

When it is desired to move the excavator toward one side of the machine, the drum 45 or 46 upon that side of the machine is thrown into engagement with the shaft 32, and the said excavator can be moved in that direction as far as desired. It can also be moved again in the reverse direction by throwing the opposite drum into operation. Of course as one drum winds up the cable the other drum will permit its cable to pay out. By mounting the excavator in the manner described and connecting it with the mechstructed as shown in Fig. 5, ein formed of a series of sidersv 51,52, an 53.- The spiders 52 an 53 are comparatively narrow;

. but'the spider 51 is formed with a periphery screen as it falls into the same. of the screen is mounted in suitable bearings which is quite wide, so that the materials falling into the screen from the chute'12 will notbatter and wear the mesh of the screen.

The spider 51 is also provided with an in:

wardly-extending annular flange 54, which prevents material from jumping out of the The shaft 55 on the frame, the said shaft preferably extending longitudinally of the machine and suspending thescreen above a tank 56,

' chine.

motion".

formed within the body portion of the ma- The shaft of the screen is connected, by means of a sprocket-chain '57,

with the shaft 20, from which it receives its Water is maintained at a suitable levelin the tank 56 to submerge a portion of the screen, as shown in'Fig; 4, so that the materia'lsscreened are operated upon beneath the surface of the water. As the screen revolves, the fine particles of gold and. sand fall through the mesh of the screen into the tank 56 and accumulate in the bottom thereof. The coarse materials will. not fall through the mesh of the screen,but pass out the end of the screen which is farthest from the chute 12, for this end of the screen is not provided with a flange, as is the other end, and these heavy and lar e materials fall upon an endless conveyer or belt 58, which is a1.-

ranged transversely of the machine and ex-' tends from a point near one side thereof in the, bottom of the tank to the upper end of the machine at the opposite side thereof.

This belt 56 may be formed with a series of slats or rifi'les 59, which tend tohold materials which drop u on the belt upon the same,

so that they wi be carried u wardly and over the side of the machine. actuatingshaft 60 is connected, b means of a sprocketchain 61, with the sha t 55 of the screen and receives its motiontherefrom.

- The material which collects in the bottom of the tank 56 is hoisted therefromb a conveyer 62, which preferabl consists o a chain carrying a series of hue 'ets 63. The conveyer is so mounted that its lower end extends to a point near the bottom of the tank 56, while its upper end is carried by'a shaft 64, supported above the side of the machine, and the buckets carried by the said belt therefore descend to the bottom of the tank 56 and lift the material contained in the said bottom to a point above the side the se arator. The buckets are arranged to 1scharge into the trough of an amalgamator 65,

which rests at its u per end upon one edge of the machine, wh' e its other end pro ects outwardlv' therefrom and is supported y a suitable brace or standard 66.. The amal- 'gamator-trough is 1 arranged at a suitable an le with respect to the machine, as shown in ig. 4.

The construction of the amalgamator forms an important feature of the invention.

' It is made up of an elongated inclined trough 67, in which are arranged a number of pad dle-wheels 68, extending transversely of the trough. These paddle-wheels are formed with a series of paddles 69, which project tan gentially from a central drum-shaped hub 70 of suitable diameter, as shown in Fig. 7. The shafts of the addle-wheelsproject beyond the sides of the trough 67- and are provided with sprocket-wheels 71, which are allconnected' and simultaneously operated b a sprocket-chain 72, so that all the pad( le .wheeE are moved ositively and-in unison.

e paddle-wheels carries a,

The s aft of one of-t pulley 73, which is connected, b means of a elting or cable 74,'witha pu ley 75 upon the shaft 64 of the conveyer 62. Cooperat' with each of the paddle-wheels is a curve rifiie-plate 76, which extends upwardly from the bottom of the trough 67 around each of the said addle-wheels andforms a pocket for 'retar ing the outward flow from the trough of water to the'particles therein, so as to give the revolving paddles ample time 'to act up on all of said particles. These rifiles are adjustable therewith toward the bottom of the trough for the purpose of accelerati or retarding the discharge of the liquid, 0., from the pockets and removable to permit deposits to be readily takenfrom them. To

render the riflles removable, and adjustable,

they are mounted in curved grooves 77, formed in the side walls of the tro h 67. The surfaces of the'paddle-wheels an their hubs, together with the inner surfaces of the rifilesand the inner surface of the trough 67, are preferably covered with copper which is coated with quicksilver in the usual way. As the material is hoisted from the trough 56 by the conve er 62 it is discharged into the ripper end o the,amalgamating-trough 67.

re paddle wheels then carry the material successively over the rifiles 76, at the same time expos" to any loose particles of gold that may be m the water and material coming into the amalgamator the coated surfaces of the'paddles upon the paddle-wheels, as Well as of the cylindrical hub portions. The

material is thus forced successively beneath trough 67 all gold, whether flour or coarse,

- paddles 69 are arranged tangentially to their will be taken u by the quicksilver coating the surfaces of tile paddle-wheels and trough. By the use of the paddle-wheels any connection with the riflies 76 insures the collection and amalgamation of even the fine particles of flour-gold which ordinarily fall upon the water, for the paddles will engi e such and either collect it With their coats surfaces or willcarry the same downwardly through the water and force it against the amalgamatingsurfaces of the riflies 76. It willbe thus ap parent that the' amalgamating process is exceedingly thorough and that no particles of gold because of their fineness and lightness can escape collection by the amalgamatingsurfaces of the chute .or trough.

By forming the inclined troughs 6'7 with a flat bottom and employing adjustable and removable rifiies the trough can be thoroughly washed by either raising or removing the riffles and directing a sheet of water over the flat bottom from end to end. As the ubs, they swing successively downward upon and into the water in the trough and tend to draw' it and any material therein toward the hubs of the paddle-wheels. The contact of all. solid particles with either the paddles of the rifiies is thus insured.

It will be evident from the above description that a machine constructed in accordance with this specification is admirably adapted for use in the fields of placer-mining and that it is capable of taking up the material itself and screening, separating, and amal amating the'valuable particles which may e contained therein, all within the control of the operator or overseer of such mechanism.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

i. In a separator, a wheel-supported frame, an excavator-support mounted thereon, an elevator-base mounted on the support and arranged for movement laterally throughout substantially the entire width of the frame,

a tank upon the frame, a rotating screen within the tank, a chute secured upon the frame and, proportioned to receive material from the excavator in any lateral position and direct it to the screen, an amalgamator mounted upon the frame,.and means to convey material from the tank to the amalgamator.

2. In a separator, a wheel-supported frame, an excavator-support mounted thereon, an excavator mounted upon the support and arranged for movement laterally throughout the width and beyond the lines of the frame, means to move the excavator, a tank upon the frame, a rotating cylindrical screen within the tank, a chute secured upon the frame and having a hopper proportioned to receive material from the excavator in any lateral position and direct it to the screen, an amal 'the frame and having a hopper proportioned to receive material from the excavator in any lateral position and direct it to the screen, an

amalgamator mounted upon and extending beyond the lines of the frame; and means to convey material from the tank to the amalgaznator.

4. In a separator, a frame, an excavator mounted upon and arranged for reciprocatory movement laterally of and beyond the frame at each side, a tank upon the frame, a rotating screen Within the tank, a chute se cured upon the frame and proportioned to receive material from the excavator in any lateral position and direct it to. the screen, an amalgamatormounted upon the frame, rotating mercury-covered paddle-wheels within the amalgamator, and means to convey the material from the tank to the am algamator.

5. In a separator, a frame, an excavator mounted upon and arranged for reciprocatory movement laterally throughout the Width of the frame, means to move the excavator, a tank upon the frame, a. rotating screen within the tank, a chute secured upon the frame and having a hopper proportioned to receive material from the excavator in any lateral position and direct it to the screen, an amalgamator mounted upon and extending beyond the lines of the frame, rotating mercury-covered paddle-wheels within the am algamator, means to convey material from the tank to the amalgamator, and means to discharge the refuse from the extended end of the amalgamator.

I 6. A separator comprising a frame, a later ally-movable excavator therein, a tank upon the frame, having an inclined bottom, a cylindrical screen extending-into the tank, a chute fixedly secured to the frame for directing material from the excavator to the screen, said chute bein extended laterally to receive material from the excavator when it is in any of its positions, an amalgamator-trough extending laterally from the frame, conveyer for removing liquid and solid matter from the tank and depositing it in the trough, and a conveyer adapted to remove screen-tailings from the tank.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN GOTTLANDEI-l. Witnesses:

A. J. LEONARD,

GEORGE S. CLAsoN.

an endless 

